SSFrance69

2 minutes ago, gfkcruiser said:

You can upgrade to the premium package if purchased all in.  Keep watching for specials.  If you pay for the upgrade and it goes down in cost, cancel and rebook.  Can do online. If on sale cannot also apply the elite discount.  One or the other only. 

When you say elite discount, do you mean on the beverage package? Do you know what the discount is? Can you call and get that discount on the all included price when you book? Is there a discount to upgrade to the premium package once you are on board or upgrade ahead of time once you book?

Thanks everyone who has clarified some things. It's very helpful. 

Hello,

I've been searching the forums about drink packages, thought I still have some unanswered questions. If I purchase the "all included" price (classic beverage and basic wi-fi) on Aqua Class and down the road there is a sale on packages, or premium package sale, can it be adjusted? Are there any discounts on the packages for elite loyalty status and will those automatically be discounted while booking the cruise?

If I decide not to purchase at the time of booking, can I still add it later, either adding it to the booking pre-cruise or once I get on board?

Thanks in advance

On 5/8/2024 at 2:24 PM, boxkite said:

ren_reid, we just completed a 8 night cruise on Beyond in Aqua Class and can confirm all of the above postings.

 

• No need to reserve time in the SEA Thermal Suite, just show up. Reservations are only needed for spa treatments.
• I understand that 3 free fitness classes are included. You will need to go to the gym once onboard and make reservations.
• Yes, you are correct the main pool area will be full on sea days and maybe on port days as well. The chair hogs are still with us. The cabanas like nice, but small, and are less expensive on port days. Only you can determine if they are worth the cost. You can reserve them through the Celebrity app.
• The fresh squeezed orange juice is include in Blu. You do get 2 bottles of water each day and I'm sure you can ask your cabin attendant for more.

 

Enjoy Blu, wonderful food and service.

Are they doing actual bottles of water now, or are they still doing the canned water? What brand of water do they offer for those two?

Lekker! I'm excited! First Holland cruise next year to Alaska. I'm looking forward to eating some Dutch food!

15 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Last evening, while cruising on O's new Vista, we stopped at a lounge to enjoy the onboard classical music quartet (2 violins, 1 viola, 1 cello) do a long set of popular opera arias.  They were wonderful, had a good crowd (on O it is OK to talk during music performances), and 4 ladies (2 from Ukraine and 2 from Poland) were outstanding.  It reminded me of the days when HAL used to have classical music quartets.   I was also thinking that many HAL fans would have been happy to be sitting on this new 1200 passenger ship with decent classical music.

 

Hank

We had the same quartet on our Vista sailing last month. They were wonderful. The ship is beautiful. The food was amazing. We were on a 10 night sailing and ran out of time to try all the food we wanted to try. We had to double down on a few things the last day. Other than specialties and all the wonderful food in the GDR, be sure to try the gazpacho soup and crunchy chicken sandwich with avocado and chipotle mayo at Aquamar... it was so good, I had to go back for it a second time. Also the pizza at waves. We should have done more of that pizza. Sigh... Oh and the stateroom bathroom and shower had me spoiled for ship bathrooms. If you know... you know. 😉

We just returned from an Oceania cruise on Vista last month. Our second Oceania cruise. First was on Riviera the year before. Both were lovely in every way. We enjoyed the quartet, especially during cocktails and afternoon tea. Next year we are trying HAL for the first time to Alaska... also first time visiting Alaska. I know it will be a different experience, but that's what makes life interesting...experiencing different things on different lines. I hope there will be some classical music on our HAL sailing, but we try to be open minded and go with the flow. Food is important to us, so hopefully HAL will be solid in that department. I'm not going to compare it to Oceania food, because O was a world apart from anything we've had at sea... but I'm hoping that HAL will pleasantly surprise us. 

Great tips, all! Thank you! I'm really looking forward to the Dutch Cafe. My grandmother was from NL and my favorite thing there to eat was the Krokette. I'll be sure to have some. I also love Dutch split pea soup. I have the recipe that my Dad got from HAL many years ago. It's a little different from their recipe I found online... but so delish. I make it at home all the time during the winter months.

Will there still be snow capped mountains in July? We got an aft veranda, so I'm hoping for nice views and will be able to see out aft, plus I should be able to see pretty well both port and starboard from there. I started to second guess myself if I should have chosen a veranda on the bow, but I decided on aft, because I love a wake view and I figured the cold wind would be less intense there. 

Cheers,
Tammy

Hello all,

Completely new to HAL, never been to Alaska, and booked a 2025 July sailing round trip Vancouver to Alaska on Koningsdam. Our sailing is July 19. I understand the daylight is long that time of year. We have a verandah stateroom. So my question is... do the staterooms have black out curtains that will block out the light while we are sleeping? While I'm at it with questions... any other advice or tips anyone wants to share regarding HAL or Alaska in July? 

Cheers

Tammy

On 3/25/2024 at 10:58 AM, visagrunt said:

I did 10 days on Edge last year.

 

Entertainment was excellent and there is nothing on HAL that comes close.  But this is the only category where X wins in a head to head comparison.

I found the food generally good to very good. However, only Eden was on or above a HAL standard.

Service was poor (bars and one of the MDRs) to good (housekeeping and specialty restaurants) to excellent (Blu). HAL may be struggling in some bars at some hours--but nothing like the fiasco of Eden or the Martini Bar.  Housekeeping was a team of one person who had many cabins to attend to.
 

The cabin was fine (I don't hate infinite verandahs), but storage was a challenge.

But I really disliked the ship.  The best real estate was handed over to the Retreat, leaving no forward facing public space with general access.  There's no sheltered promenade (even Pinnacle class makes an attempt at this).  The atrium over the Martini Bar was an acoustic nightmare which invaded all the public areas surrounding it.  Public spaces were woefully inadequate for the passenger numbers.

And finally the value for money proposition was non-existent.  Celebrity was vastly more expensive than comparable accommodations and perks on HAL without providing a corresponding step up for that money.  

The same group are doing 10 days on Eurodam in February next year and I hope that she show off what HAL is capable of.  🙂

 

You mentioned that on Celebrity only Eden was at or above a HAL standard. You also mentioned the service in Blu. Are you saying the food in HALs MDR is better than the food in Blu? If that's the case, I'm really looking forward to our cruise on HAL next year. Dined in Blu on Summit last July and the food was excellent. I thought it was almost as good as Oceania. Good to know that HAL has high standards. 

40 minutes ago, clo said:

 

I'd guess the filet of veal could be the deal breaker...unless it's going to be on another menu. It sounds downright luscious.

Downright luscious is a perfect way to describe it. Here it is in all its luscious glory... 

1 hour ago, AMHuntFerry said:

I wonder if it is possible to order off-menu since it's an O-recipe (I've done this on land when a restaurant's menu changes and one of my favorites disappears). It might be worth asking a day or more in advance, and if they have the ingredients you may be pleasantly surprised.

Worth a try!

6 hours ago, Snaefell3 said:

O has tossed us both a curve ball...  The Polo Grill menu changes by ship!

 

Marina: https://www.oceaniacruises.com/Documents/Menus/81604521654/Polo-Grill-Main-Menu.pdf

Vista: https://www.oceaniacruises.com/sites/default/files/2023-04/polo-grill-dinner-sample.pdf

I also noticed that a dish I tried last year on Riviera is not on the Vista menu.
Pancetta Wrapped Filet of Veal with Bay Lobster Tail Oscar Style.
What a shame because I really quite enjoyed it. I'm sure I'll find something else.

It's also worth mentioning that Waves Grill turns into a wonderful pizza spot in the evenings with yummy toppings like burrata, prosciutto and arugula.

On 2/7/2024 at 6:40 PM, basor said:

On our Vista cruises the Barrista/bakery area was in high demand and the tables and chairs were full most of the day...people were enjoying both the offerings from the bakery and barristas.  When the menu changed between breakfast and lunch at the bakery there was a line.   The only time we were able to walk in and easily find a place to sit was mid/late afternoon.  It filled back up when it switched to wine and appetizers in the evening.

We often had breakfast/brunch there on days when a smaller meal with a view and a delicious coffee  from barristas was perfect versus the larger Terrace or Waves.  We did love Aquamar for breakfast/lunch too and sometimes would grab a goodie from there and take it up to barristas to add to the items from there and enjoy the view!

Just a different reaction to barristas/bakery .......

 

What time do they start serving the wine and appetizers in the evening?

Thanks for posting this new menu. Good to know what's changing. Some of the new items look like nice additions. However, replacing a tuna or salmon burger with breaded cod and cheddar cheese sounds like a downgrade. Breaded cod and cheddar sandwich sounds like something you could get at McDonalds. I'm sure it's better than that, but not what I want to eat on vacation. Also I noticed the Matador no longer has jalapeno cheddar and the Texan no longer has bourbon BBQ sauce... just BBQ. Are they toning things down to appeal to people who like bland food? Just my observations... I will be able to judge for myself when I sail on Vista later this month.

Just curious... are they also changing the grand dining room menus or menus elsewhere in the near future? If it's not too much trouble would you mind inquiring with the Vista Gen Mgr? I hope not... I was looking forward to having some of my favorites from our last sailing.

23 hours ago, melusina said:

We're on Infinity in April, now I'm REALLY looking forward to it. Maybe I'll just doend the whole cruise there.

I can give you an update now since we sailed on Summit in July of this year. The large Thalassotherapy pool is still alive and well and just as amazing as ever... The hot tubs however are no longer typical hot tubs. The water is warm but there are no jets. They are whirlpools now. Not sure if it's the same on Infinity. We spent a lot of time in the T-pool and in the Persian Gardens. Persian gardens are included with Aqua staterooms, but you can also pay a fee to use them if you're in another stateroom category. Enjoy your cruise!

On 11/5/2023 at 1:57 PM, mauibabes said:

I am sure it is an individual decision. We travel with friends, Silver level and we call him Lobsterman.  He eats lobster somewhere on the ship daily. His favorite is the Jacques Lobster.  
now me, I don’t even like the Lobster Bisque which I tried last week but that is just me and lobster. 
enjoy what you like.

Mauibabes

The Jacques Lobster Thermidor was excellent. I didn't care for the lobster bisque in the GRD. It tasted like tomato bisque to me. The lobster bisque in Polo however was wonderful! 

1 hour ago, MVPinBoynton said:

I think they are basically the same.  Below are descriptions and photos of the Jacques Lobster Thermidor from my 2016 Riviera cruise.

 

 

Below is the Vista Maine Lobster Baked in Shell.  The main difference is that the Vista one was a much bigger shell rather than two smaller ones in Jacques.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you! Now I have something extra good to look forward to... one of many!!! 

Thank you so much for sharing the photos and menus. I have a question. On day 14 you show a Maine Lobster baked in shell with a mushroom cream sauce. Is it anything like the Lobster Thermidor they serve in Jacques? That was one of the best dishes we had on Riviera last March. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

I've enjoyed following along. Your photos are fantastic. I drooled on my keyboard looking at some of the food photos. I'll have to look out for that Mexican themed lunch when we sail on Vista in February. I agree that the pizza in the evening at Waves is really good. I wish it were available for lunch as well. You say you make better pizza though? I say, what time should we come over to try it?!? Just kidding. We are in the DC area, so that might not be logistically feasible. I went to your other website too and you are a couple in your 70s? You must be doing something right, because you both look like you're in your 50s. Thanks so much for taking the time to write the review and post photos. I'm also looking forward to reading your friend's review and seeing those photos. I've been to his site before and always enjoy all the detailed food pictures and menus. Is it done yet, Mike? 😆

On 9/1/2022 at 1:48 PM, Carolfay said:

I'm fine with all the fragrances and colors; what I'd really like is some Bulgari jewelry.

This is the best answer yet! Love it! 😂

7 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

You are correct about six, but they won't let you bring hard liquor. One of our party loves her Gin and Tonics but she has to pay $16 for each and every one of them even though there is tonic in her stateroom refrig. V would have let her bring on a fifth or two. And if you want to drink YOUR wine with dinner O charges you $25 to open and pour it. V charges you $0.00.

That's fair. I thought O let you bring hard liquor as well, but then I didn't really pay attention to that policy since I don't drink it.

12 hours ago, DrKoob said:

If you have read my posts from the start, the reason I am making this comparison is that we are trying to find a new cruise line. We like being loyal customers. We like knowing where things are on a ship—it makes us feel like we are home when we cruise. We have boiled our choice down to O and VO. 

 

So comparing the cost depends on what kind of cruiser you are. If you are what I call a "bare-bones" cruiser, you are right. O will be cheaper, but if you want or need the extras, it's about even. With V, I get all the internet I want as many devices as I can bring. With V, I get a FREE shore excursion in every port. I agree that you can get inside staterooms cheaper, but V has no insides—every stateroom has a verandah.

 

If you don't drink, O wins every time, but we do, and with V, I get free wine or beer at lunch and dinner. V's cocktail package and the price of individual cocktails are about half of what O has charged me on this trip. And if I want to have a cocktail or glass of wine in my stateroom before dinner, in PV class and above, V gives me free spirits in my mini-bar. Plus, they treat me as an adult and allow me to bring as much wine or hard liquor on board as I want. And there is never a corkage fee in any of the dining rooms. 

 

We did 21 days in the Med last year, and so far, the cost for us has been about even for 14 of those days with all the V perks.

 

Not saying I like V better. But I liked my stateroom on V a LOT better. In comparison to my Concierge Veranda, it was huge. So you would need to compare a PV on V with a suite on O to get the same size and the same perks. And so far, the food on O is about a mile and a half ahead of V. 

That's another reason we left Celebrity. They reduced their wine allowance policy from two bottles per person to one. That's ridiculous. We like to enjoy it in our stateroom and your comment mirrors my sentiment on the matter. Treat us like adults. Oceania does allow you to bring a lot of wine. If I recall correctly 6 bottles per person but don't quote me on that. I've been told by regular O cruisers that they really don't stop you from bringing more than the printed policy. 

On 10/6/2023 at 4:37 AM, DrKoob said:

I am a retired graphic designer. I need to work with software that lets me add media when I want it. For instance, when designing for print, I never use Word for my text, I do my creation of everything in Adobe InDesign. Doing it in another app just doesn't work for me.

 

Another reason I can't work offline is that I am constantly looking things up while I write this. I need to be able to grab links, look at maps, and get names spelled correctly. I have tried using Word or Pages to do this but it just doesn't work to be offline.

 

And my point really was that Oceania's internet policy is ridiculous in this day and age.

Nice! A fellow designer. Though I'm not retired yet. I love what I do, so I don't mind it at all. Enjoy your time on Vista. I'm looking forward to hearing all about your dining experience. My husband and I used to be loyal to Celebrity and started cruising with them back when Michelle Roux was in charge of the food. Oceana's food reminded me of what Celebrity used to be. We had our first O experience last March on Riviera. We loved it. We probably won't look back. I won't say I'll never sail with Celebrity again, but there is a very very low chance of it. My daughter and I sailed on Summit at the end of July and we dined in Blu which was wonderful, but I feel the pricing is similar to O in Aqua, but without the other added value we felt we received on O. We are booked on Vista next February for a Caribbean sailing, and are looking at Riviera again in 2025 for Alaska! Enjoy!